LACC 2023: Marvel’s ‘Gang War’ Panel
by Gary Catig
At Los Angeles Comic Con, Marvel opened up the main stage on Saturday with their panel on the current crossover event, Spider-Man’s ‘Gang War’. Marvel’s Talent Relations Director, Rickey Purdin, served as moderator with Zeb Wells, Cody Ziglar, Melissa Flores, Dan Slott, and Ryan Stegman serving as panelists.
As Wells discussed, the event is their tip of a hat to an ’80s Marvel event of the same name. Their version involves super powered gangs lead by villains Hammerhead, Mr. Negative, and Tombstone. A dark force is manipulating things behind the scenes, and soon Kingpin and Typhoid Mary jump into the fray. In response, a team of superheroes band together to stop the bad guys.
We received cover art for upcoming issues of The Amazing Spider-Man #41-44 from Wells and John Romita Jr. Wells is also working on a Free Comic Book Day 2024 issue with Stegman on art. Both shared how the plot follows Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Ziglar talked about Miles Morales: Spider-Man, which he does with artist Federico Vicentini. He likes when Miles is a more ground level superhero and wanted to explore different mentorships such as with Misty Knight. Also, he wanted to incorporate his love of anime and manga into the series so he considers the title a Shonen Spider-Man. He even gave Miles a sword harkening back to one of his favorite Dragon Ball Z characters. We then received some cool artwork including a first look at covers for Miles Morales: Spider-Man #18 LGY #300. That book will serve as a part two of the rubber match with villain Rabble.
Spider-Gwen: Smash has Gwen Stacy returning to her home dimension and repairing her relationship with The Mary Janes. Flores talked about how the band goes on tour with Dazzler and the Uncut Gems, but Dazzler is stalked by a hulk. The story shows Stacy’s love for music. In the cover reveal for the fourth issue, we see that Carnage returns.
Flores will also be writing Giant-Size Spider-Gwen #1, which comes out in March. It will serve as a continuation of the Smash story, and the art is by Alba Glez.
After the reveal of upcoming covers for the new Superior Spider-Man, Slott then shared some tidbits about Spider-Boy. The writer is having fun with the series by creating wild villains such as the bowling inspired Gutterball, the balloon animal making Emilio Helio, and a cross between an elephant and rhino whose name is a play on “Hell if I know.” He considers Spider-Boy the sidekick to not just Spider-Man, but to the entire Marvel Universe. You will see him team up with the likes of Captain America and Miles Morales. Slott also teased that in issue #3, the hero will discover a new superpower in his arsenal and we’ll meet one of his parents in the future. It could be someone new or someone we’ve met already.
